Enraged
by maroongrad
Summary: A young Arthur finds himself vampire-sitting while Abraham is away, and things do not go as smoothly as expected. Completed!
1. Chapter 1

(this won't be a long story, probably one or two more chapters if that)

It had definitely heard him coming. While the cell was locked and warded, heavy door firmly shut, the only viewing port latched and barred, the growling was still audible in the corridor outside. An angry, violent sound, promising a slow and painful death. He'd been warned that the creature was out of control and dangerous, but the few encounters he'd had with him, Alucard had been icily controlled and calm, if clearly angry. Well, as a prisoner, he couldn't blame the vampire for his anger, but this?

Those growls and the snarls interspersed didn't sound like they could come from the coldly logical and proud monster he'd met before.

Father was away, and would be away another few days. As a Hellsing, even should Alucard have broken free of most of the controls, he'd still be safe. The most basic, primary, fundamental locks on the creature's actions prevented him from retaliating against the Hellsings. And so, with the vampire so violent and unmanageable, it was his duty to bring it back under control; he was the only one in the entire household that could.

Squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath, the young man confidently pulled the door open and stepped into the monster's lair.

-v-v-

Again? Another one? Enraged and defensive, knowing what was coming and ready to fight it with every fiber of his being, Alucard snarled his defiance at the dark shape looming in the doorway. They never came close enough for him to reach them, but he'd never stop trying and, eventually, one would come too close. The dark shape in the doorway shifted, and despite himself the vampire flinched, waiting for the impact...that never came. The form never moved, and it was only one, not the handful of his abusers that had come previously. It was silent, too small to be Van Helsing himself, but too large to be a child.

And it wasn't moving towards him, though the sharp beam of lantern light caused him to flinch, eyes clenched shut against the painful brightness. His ears still worked, and he heard no footsteps. His body, stretched along the stone floor, registered no vibrations as the man walked towards him.

Something had changed. Having no reason to expect it to be for the better, and all the experience in the last months telling him it would only be worse, Alucard hissed a warning, bracing himself for whatever was going to happen next.

-v-v-

Dangerous? The vampire hadn't even risen, had barely lifted its head to watch him. Alucard certainly SOUNDED dangerous and there was no doubt the vampire wanted to attack him...but it wasn't. It was barely moving, lying unexpectedly filthy and tattered against the back wall, fangs bared in menace, hissing.

He had expected to find the vampire pacing angrily the length of its chains, perhaps leaning against the wall, glaring. Had Alucard truly lost control, even lunging at the end of the chain to attack him wouldn't have surprised him. But this?

The vampire had to be bluffing. It was far too proud and arrogant to be so reduced willingly, to sham such pitiful weakness. Even now, it had ceased its hissing, the head tracking him blindly, eyes tightly clenched shut against the light of the lantern. Striding forward confidently, he strode to the vampire's side, kneeling. Behind him, the door slowly swung closed, its own weight pulling it shut with a gentle click. With some privacy, now, he intended to determine what had driven the vampire to such rage and disabled it so. Had Alucard fought his bonds so fiercely that he'd injured himself?

-v-v-

Patience...patience... The form moved closer. The identity wasn't visible, not yet, barely seen through blurry light-blind eyes...but the man was closer. Almost close enough... NOW! With a lunge, speed so fast he'd be a blur to a human's eyes, Alucard launched himself at his prey. The fools, one had finally, finally come within reach! Bindings or not, he would have his revenge!

The flash of pain and the shock that propelled him backwards, slamming him into the rock wall, was entirely unexpected. It was all he could do to stare blindly at nothing and pant, stunned mind piecing together what had occurred. Was it Master? No...not bulky enough. Master was oversized, this one was not. Mind spinning, confused, it took effort to piece together what had happened.

He'd tried to bite a Hellsing, not a mere victim. Not Abraham. His son? He'd seen a son a few times. Not yet a man, but not a child, still growing. Had this boy-man come to taunt him? Teeth snapped together in impotent rage, but he was helpless.

Abraham he'd yield to. Not willingly, no, but the man had defeated him in fair fight, had bested him thoroughly. Abraham had earned the right to the title Master, though begrudingly bestowed. He loathed his servitude to that human, but the man had earned his respect. Cold and powerful, but not cruel. Demanding, but not of anything beyond the vampire's abilities. His time with the man had not been pleasant, but not unbearable.

And then Abraham had left, and the handful of people who knew of Alucard's existence had come to toy with him, taunt him. Men he could not respect, was not allowed to harm. But, then again, he was also expected to guard Abraham's property...a label he unfortunately bore himself. That loophole had allowed him the slightest opportunity to attack, threaten, defend himself against those fools.

But not against a Hellsing. And now this boy-man had come, and he could only lie there in impotent rage.

-v-v-

The abortive strike had left the vampire crumpled against the wall, his face twisted in anger, but unmoving. Leaning over the vampire, Arthur could see the glint of rage in its eyes, but it didn't try to attack again. Alucard was no fool, and wouldn't waste energy on something so futile. Moving quickly and firmly, the vampire was rolled onto his back, limbs straightened, inspected...and what was found was not good.

Alucard was severely underweight. He'd been slender to the point of scrawny the times Arthur had seen him before, but now the vampire looked nearly emaciated. The dirt and filth and dried blood on Alucard made it difficult to spot any additional damage, but...it was a vampire. Generally speaking, any problems could be repaired by providing blood. Ignoring the angry, faint hisses, Arthur rose and left the vampire. Blood was kept on ice in the adjoining room, and it was only a moment before he was leaning back over the prone form of the vampire, holding the lip of the bottle to its mouth.

-v-v-

Blood? Yes! The little fool at least had the intelligence to feed him before tormenting him again. Weak as he was, it wouldn't have taken much more to send him into a sleep, and he'd have remained that way unless and until blood was provided. Sleeping, he had no way of knowing what was happening to him, to his body, what was being done, how much time had passed. The blood would prevent that, and Alucard sucked it down greedily.

He had been injured worse before. He'd been starved to a near-skeleton. This was the first time in his entire existence where he'd been badly injured, starved, and prevented from caring for himself. Discomfiting, and he drank eagerly, unwilling to be such helpless prey.

The penalty for his meal was quick to announce itself. The hunger and anger had helped cloak the degree of pain he was experiencing, and as both faded...it flared into agony.

-v-v-

The rapid, silent swallowing had changed as Alucard drank the second bottle. The vampire was gasping slightly, jaw trembling, face twisted in pain, not anger. Frowning, Arthur started him on a third bottle. Alucard received one a night; the vampire had already had a double ration and was well onto a third with no signs of slowing down. Restocking the blood supply could wait; if Alucard drank every bottle, well, Arthur would just have to harvest and store more. Father had taught him to draw blood years ago and much of the blood in those bottles had probably been collected by him already! It wasn't the blood causing this reaction, he knew it was safe and clean...so why was Alucard starting to thrash weakly and cry?

Third bottle empty, Arthur began a closer inspection of the shaking monster. It was so unlike the Alucard he knew, to show any sort of emotion or reaction, but fear, pain, or anger was activating the body in front of him. The vampire's expression told him which it was...pain. Teeth were bared but clenched, brow furrowed, face pulled tight. He'd seen that look on the faces of his father's patients when a broken bone was set or something equally painful was occuring. What could have hurt him so?

A few minutes of inspection and Arthur gave up. It was simply too dark in the room, the vampire far too filthy, for him to locate any sort of injury. At best, he was fairly certain the limbs weren't broken. Crouching, he lifted the bony vampire with a grunt, then left the room with Alucard draped across his arms and hanging partly over his shoulder. It wasn't a graceful carry but the damned monster was so tall it was really the only way to move him about. At least he wasn't heavy.

And a bath in the bright gas-lights of the bathing room would help him determine what had been done. Frowning as he carried the dead weight of the vampire up the stairs, he ignored the startled stares and jumpy reactions of the men he passed. Noted them, realized that the vampire's acquiesent behavior surprised them, and that they expected the vampire to attack them, but ignored it for now.

He had a vampire to repair. His duty as a Hellsing and to his father was to keep his father's prized possession functional, and he'd do exactly that.


	2. Chapter 2

What was this boy-man doing? He'd provided blood, three full bottles, poked and pried and prodded...carried Alucard up to the main levels of the house, where he was normally barred from. And now the vampire found himself lying on the comfortable cool of a tile floor in an overly-bright room, with the loud splashing and echoing of water nearby. Unwilling to show a mere human, not even his Master's son, just how much pain he was in, Alucard clenched his teeth and fought to control the trembling of his limbs.

He burned; multiple spots on his torso, his legs, the biceps of an arm, all of them on fire. Would the boy just leave him alone, he'd be able to begin removing the causes of the pain, begin to heal, but the jostling and moving about and hauling around prevented that. He'd have to wait, to bear it a little bit longer.

-v-v-

"Water's warm. Let's get you in there and cleaned up." Arthur wasn't certain why he was talking to the vampire, or even if the beast understood him, but it just seemed terribly impolite to pretend that the creature wasn't intelligent or to treat it like an object. Alucard didn't respond, eyes still clenched shut, the tight jaw still indicating some sort of pain. Shrugging to himself, Arthur quickly stripped the tattered rags from the vampire, frowning as he saw the holes scattered about through the cloth.

Granted, Father wouldn't waste good clothes on a possession, but still, he wouldn't have given Alucard rags! An unpleasant conclusion began to form, and Arthur ignored it for the moment. With a quick heave, the vampire splashed down into the warm water. A brush and a bar of soap, and the cleaning began.

The dried blood dissolved in the water, running off the vampire's body in pink streaks with each pass of the brush. It was only a perfunctory sort of cleaning, just enough to try and find the damage under the blackened filth. A soapy cloth wiped over the face, was wrung out under the fall of water, and then wiped back over the skin to pick up the soap. The drain was pulled, the grey water vanished down the pipe, and clean water and more soap was used again and again. No matter how he cleaned, the blood kept draining, great black spots remaining on the otherwise alabaster skin...and Arthur stopped.

He'd cleaned that skin already.

Leaning over the tub, he pulled up an arm, looking closely at what he'd assumed to be a great black chunk of dirt and blood. Scratching at it with a nail, he was shocked and startled to instead pull out a great black plug of dried blood, with fresh thin blood streaming out behind it. Alucard's silence broke, a faint gasp and whimper indicating that it had probably been as painful an experience as it looked. More blood flowed out, blackened and clotted bits mixed with the red. With a gulp and a white face, Arthur prodded at the arm...and saw an odd glint. There was something in that hole.

A squeeze, and like a great pustulent boil, the wound...erupted. Black liquified flesh, clots of blood...and a metal chunk. The stench was unspeakable, but the water quickly washed away the tissues and odor and left the dull gleam of a warped bullet in the bottom of the bathtub.

A silver bullet. Arthur picked it up, turning it about in his hands, reaching a very unpleasant conclusion as to how this had ended up in Father's vampire. And from the other blackened areas, this would not be the only one. A rough distracted pat on Alucard's head, and he trotted from the bath down to the surgery. Father had forceps and scalpels and bandages and more available and Alucard would likely need them all.

-v-v-

The pain in his arm was fading, but the other injuries still screamed. What was that boy doing? The child had removed a single bullet, then left. Had the stench been too much? What a weak thing Arthur was, then, unsuited to be a Hellsing if a bit of decay could turn him away so effectively. Scowling, eyes barely cracked open in the bright room, Alucard realized he'd have to fix the other injuries himself. He'd been too weakened, too starved, to do so before.

He was digging out the one embedded in his thigh when Arthur returned, medical kit dangling from one hand, bottle of blood held tight in the other. Even squinting in the brightness of the light, Alucard could see the look of determination and the jut of the jaw in this child. Perhaps the boy wasn't so weak after all.

-v-v-

Alucard had, thank God, been cooperative during the extractions. He'd hissed, snapped a few times, growled, but none of it had been directed at Arthur. It had simply been a response to the pain. Any human would have been screaming as the probe dug about in their guts, but Alucard did no more than dent the side of the tub in his grip, teeth clenched and silent. A final bucket of water rinsed the blood from the vampire, and Arthur lifted him, twisting him about, looking for any remaining signs of injury. The vampire was covered with pink dimples and divots, marking the healing holes, but no more black patches of necrotizing tissue remained.

"Did I miss any?" A red eye glared up at him from the wet grey bangs falling across the vampire's face, and then a grudging nod. Damn. "Where?" Alucard didn't speak, simply laying his head against the side of the tub, tilting to show his throat...then a slender white hand lifted the hair at the back of the neck to reveal one final blackened expanse.

At the top of the spine...where it joined the head. Head and heart were the most delicate, the only delicate, parts of a vampire. Had that bullet severed the top of the spine, he'd have found dust in that cell instead of an impotent glaring fury. Even now, taking it out was risky. But it had to be done. Left there, it might slowly kill the vampire anyways. The red eye, still half-shut in the light, rolled to follow him and the body visibly tensed as he leaned over with the probe and forceps.

Right under the skin. It was right there, half-buried in the now-porous bone, the bullet unexpectedly easy to grasp and remove. Flinching slightly, he gripped it with the forceps and pulled. Chunks of bone came out with it, and he said a brief prayer that it would not cause the neck to detach. Not much of the spinal column could be left at that point! But the vampire stayed intact, no dusting, and even gave the slightest sigh of relief. Blackened pus bubbled out, then red blood...and then the skin stretched over the hole.

Done, he was done, the vampire now limp and relieved and clearly exhausted. Feeding the beast the bottle of blood, Arthur pondered what to do next.

Putting Alucard back in the basement meant leaving the vampire unguarded. Those bullets hadn't gotten there magically; someone had deliberately shot and come close to destroying the vampire. A normal vampire would have died. Alucard was far more resistant, and the bullets had missed vital areas, but it was still far too close for comfort. No, he would not be putting the vampire back down in the cell alone, nor would he be spending a cold and chilly day down there guarding the beast.

Not long after, the vampire was being toted down the hallway to his own bedroom, wrapped snugly in Father's bathrobe. While the vampire blinked stupidly on the bed, dulled with relief, exhaustion, and confusion, Arthur was bullying a pair of men into carrying the coffin out of storage and up into the bedroom.

Alucard clearly could sleep out of it, but Arthur was well-taught. To recover, a vampire needed access to its coffin. It provided strength and healing as well as protecting the vampire from daylight.

The men slid it onto the carpet, on the opposite side of the bed from the window. They watched the vampire nervously, but Alucard simply drowsed, oblivious to their presence. Dismissing them, Arthur turned to his temporary ward. The creature was clearly exhausted, but seemed oddly content. Shrugging, Arthur snagged a pencil and writing tablet from his desk, then seated himself by the vampire.

He'd have to write down what he found and his impressions. Father had long since made it clear that he expected written records and observations whenever Arthur and Alucard interacted. It allowed Father to have another viewpoint of the vampire's behavior and to monitor Arthur's perception of the beast. In this case, it also meant that he wouldn't forget any important facts. Speaking of which, those cold wet bullets couldn't stay in a mass in his pocket forever.

They rattled into the nightstand drawer, and the Arthur began to compose his journal entry as Alucard slept on beside him.


	3. Chapter 3

Warm, comfortable, peaceful. He was in his coffin? Yes...Arthur must have put him there while he slept. He didn't remember much, only that for some reason the brat had placed him on a bed. Arthur's bed, and smelling strongly of the Hellsing. His body and mind had recognized it as a safe place to rest, and he'd fallen asleep as he healed. At some point later that night, he'd been placed in the coffin.

And with sunset, he was now awake. What to do? Remaining at rest on the soft silk and cushions of the coffin was tempting, but he was also curious. He could hear Arthur nearby, and no one else. The air lacked the damp rocky smell of his cell; it was likely he was still in the bedroom. What an odd child to have a vampire as a roommate! Curious, comfortable, relaxed, still tired, somewhat weak and certainly hungry, Alucard lifted the lid and eased upright, looking about.

-v-v-

Hearing the rustling from the coffin, Arthur bookmarked his page in his schoolbook and turned to see what would happen. Would the vampire come out angry and hissing again? Stay in the coffin? Be the cold, calm, collected monster he was familiar with? A few peeks during the day had shown a motionless corpse as Alucard slept, and he'd only left the vampire unsupervised to draw another two bottles of blood from the grooms. As underweight as the vampire was, both bottles and probably a third would be welcome.

The blinking, tousel-headed form of the vampire, with a blank and tired face, rose from the coffin to stare dumbly and mutely at him. Arthur fought not to smile as the vampire blinked a few more times, vague eyes slowly sharpening. Clearly, the vampire didn't wake completely at once, and it was an oddly endearing human expression of befuddled sleepiness. Temporary, though, and before long the sharp predatory gaze of a vampire was judging and weighing him. Alucard was trying to make him uncomfortable enough to speak, and Arthur wasn't going to fall for the manipulation. Instead, he visually inspected the vampire. Still too thin, slouched slightly instead of proudly upright, skin smooth but looking dry and too stretched over the bones, underfed but intact, lined eyes showing the physical fatigue that still held the creature. Not foolish enough to challenge his Master's son, but too proud not to manipulate him.

Alucard was definitely recovering! And discomfited by the steady gaze and visual inspection, it was the vampire that cracked first with a grudgingly respectful, "Master."

Nodding, Arthur leaned over the side of the bed, lifting the pair of bottles together clanking in a hand. Tensely watching, Alucard's hunger was clear, and it was only a few seconds after the bottles were taken up in those taloned hands that the vampire was finishing the last drops!

"You certainly look much better. I do have a set of clothes for you, the ones you were wearing are beyond salvaging. Go change, then I have questions for you."

There was a flash of offended dignity at being ordered around by someone so young, but the vampire grudgingly accepted the pile of clothing and disappeared into the bathroom to change. Arthur heard running water as well, and the vampire reappeared clothed and with a damp face, but now looking far more awake and alert.

-v-v-

"Who shot you?" Blunt and to the point, much like his father, Alucard noted. And he really thought it obvious. Who would have access to silver bullets, pistols, or himself?

"Your father brought on a baker's dozen men last year to hunt supernatural creatures. They've encountered me," and been scared into wetting themselves "and know that a mere silver bullet does no permanent damage. Your father demonstrated this, armed them, and then left." Without a single consideration of what those men might do to the vampire they hated, at that.

"All of the men?" Father had put forth a substantial effort to find and recruit those men. Arthur had been dragooned into assisting with contacting them, gathering background information, even purchasing train tickets. Having to replace all of them was daunting!

"All. If they weren't directly involved, they were well aware of the situation and encouraging it. Only two were involved the first night, but all thirteen were present at some point in the last few days." Most too scared to do more than peek through the observation port, but a handgun was perfectly capable of firing through the ports without needing them to approach. The cowards. A lip lifted in a sneer. Even Arthur, not even a man, had been brave enough to come to his side! And those armed, experienced fighters? Worthless for anything but a dinner.

Arthur fell silent, and Alucard used the time to ignore the child and move to the window, staring silently at the grounds. With Abraham gone, and busy planning his travels before then, it had been weeks since he'd glimpsed anything beyond stone walls. The soothing vista of a well-kept English manor's grounds filled his eyes, while his thoughts idly wandered through visions of carefully dismantling the bodies of each of his tormentors. It was entertaining, but he found himself tiring.

-v-v-

The vampire held himself erect, shoulders back...but the lines on Alucard's face couldn't be so easily concealed. The vampire needed more rest, and Arthur was not willing to share his room with a vampire until Father returned. Monsters did not belong in bedrooms. An exception could certainly be made while said vampire was recuperating, but once recovered, he'd be sent back down to the basement.

And then the men would shoot him again. Those fools. They could have killed the vampire. Alucard was nearly indestructible, but nearly wasn't entirely. A few more days with those bullets in him, and he might well have dusted. The one in the neck was far too close for comfort. He'd have to have a "discussion" with them. There was a perfectly good barracks on the grounds that they could stay in, complete with a small kitchen.

A pull on the bell, and the butler arrived. "Gather the soldiers into Father's study, please. Send someone to notify me when they have all arrived." He'd have to speak with them tonight, or he'd have his unwanted guest another day. As the butler left, he turned to the vampire, still standing by the window but now slightly slouched in fatigue.

"You are not recovered yet. I'm restricting you to this room while I am gone; I doubt it will be for long. The door will be locked, you can rest safely."

-v-v-

And as soon as that boy-man was gone, he'd be sleeping on the bed. His coffin was excellent for a deep sleep; point of fact, it was a requirement. Sleeping so deeply created a vulnerability that he wanted to avoid as much as possible. The bed would do just fine, with the additional caveat of annoying a Hellsing.

A Hellsing that was about to confront a large number of adult men. All of them armed with those deadly little pistols, as he'd learned to his own discomfort. A few of them were violent sorts, sadists that delighted in the pain of others, in intimidation and threats. Not too different from himself, except for the threatening. Threats were a waste of time. If someone needed to be threatened, it was faster and easier to simply kill them. A few bloody and painful examples and there would be no need to threaten.

Abraham understood this, one of the reasons he had earned the grudging respect of a vampire. He never threatened, never bluffed. He simply stated how things would be...and after a few painful and agonizing experiences, Alucard had quickly realized that his Master was not bluffing in the slightest. Even the soldiers never challenged Hellsing anymore; Abraham's treatment of Alucard warned them away. A few minor rebellions and challenges at the very beginning, and the men had been nothing but respectful and obedient since.

Arthur was not Abraham.

Alucard turned, resting his tired and serious gaze on his Master's son. He had to protect the youngling, or he wouldn't even have brought it to Arthur's attention. But, he had to. Either that or go with the Hellsing himself, and he had no intention of doing anything but resting.

"They have weapons. You do not."

-v-v-

Red eyes watched him as Alucard made that flat statement of observation. With a few moments of thought, Arthur mentally ran through some of the notes on the men's personalities and behavior he'd encountered during his research and assisting his father. Combining that with the recent abuse of Abraham Hellsing's prized possession...

The pistol was loaded and checked by the time the maid knocked on his door to notify him that they were ready. Alucard was difficult to read, but he seemed to approve.

-v-v-

Stopping here. There's only a short bit left to go, but not tonight. Thanks for the reviews!


	4. Chapter 4

Rest would not come, even on the soft bedding infused with the scent of Hellsing. Those damned bonds that kept him a servant, a slave, property, also worked to make him content as such. "Or they tried." Alucard thought smugly to himself, a lip curling off a tooth in a sneer. But those same bonds kept insisting that Arthur was not safe, not in the Hellsing's own home, and pushed him up off his comfortable bed.

Locked doors weren't much of an issue. While too limited to simply pass through it for now, it was only wood and metal. A moment later, and it was only wood and a twisted, deformed lump of metal dangling where the knob had been.

Already in a foul mood because of the condition he'd been left in, then having to be rescued and cared for by what was nearly a child, then left alone to rest to find that he couldn't, Alucard stalked down the hallways to the study. Hopefully one of those bastards would somehow threaten Arthur, and give him the excuse he so craved to rip the man limb from limb.

Slowly.

-v-v-

"...restricted to the barracks and grounds. The manor is off-limits, but you'll have a half-hour to gather your items. If you should need something, ask one of the servants to retrieve it or to find me." Alucard paused outside the door, listening. Arthur sounded so calm, so in control. Despite himself, Alucard was impressed. The boy had clearly learned from his father.

And the men needed a lesson. Their growing grumbles and anger were audible through the door. Grinning viciously to himself, anticipating bloodshed, Alucard stooped to peer through the keyhole. As soon as one of them gave him an excuse, he'd kill the man. Or men, if he was in luck. All that was needed was a threat (or something that could be interpreted as a threat) towards Arthur...

YES! One of the men, the first to abuse him, in fact, had stepped forward, looming over Arthur, clearly trying to intimidate the smaller, younger man. Alucard tensed, ready to attack...and the man SHOVED Arthur, yelling some nonsense about how "no pup of a boy is going to tell him where he can go" and other nonsense. This "pup of a boy" was the son of their leader AND had been placed in charge of the estate.

"You have half an hour. I suggest you not waste any additional time." Cold, and clear, and precise...and Alucard felt a warning shiver down his spine. That boy was far too like his father right now. The clawed hand released the knob as Alucard stooped to watch again. The damned fool had a gun out, not pointing it at Arthur but visible, a threat. He wasn't likely to shoot the boy, or he'd be dead already. What did he plan?

"Do you intend to continue this insubordination? Or will you follow orders before I am forced to act?" Simple and clear and met with a bray of laughter and another shove.

Between one blink and the next, Arthur had drawn his own weapon and fired. Not a fatal shot, right into the meaty portion of the leg, and his erstwhile attacker fell down, grasping his leg and cursing. Arthur stepped over his ankle, a few firm steps towards the men, and...they stepped back. Two were delegated to take the man down to the medical area and have him patched up, then to take him to the barracks where they would all stay.

And then Arthur turned his back on the men, supremely confident that his orders would be carried out. As the men shuffled towards the door, Alucard melted back into the shadows, quietly and quickly stepping down the evening-dark hallway and back to Arthur's bedroom.

The door clicked behind him, and Alucard leaned on it, thinking over what he had seen. The boy was like his father. Firm, unyielding, honest with his warnings and entirely capable of following through. A natural leader. And...he was sending the men out of the house...to protect a vampire?

He still loathed the boy, but after that little display, he was forced to respect him as well. For now, with Arthur in the house, he didn't feel a need to protect the Hellsing but instead felt...protected. Safe. Arthur was capable of guarding him in his sleep, eminently capable. While the Hellsings might not treat him with any gentle care, they were not cruel. Arthur may well turn out to be much like his father; tolerable but unpleasant, if one was his property.

He'd have to see. For now, he was still tired, still worn after the stresses of the last few days. No bed. He wanted, needed, that deep sleep to recover, and he trusted Arthur to keep him unabused. 

-v-v-

Arthur entered the room only a few minutes later. He'd more than half-expected the vampire to be on his bed, having been well-versed by his father in all the minute and persistent ways the vampire rebelled. Small rebellions were allowed, for they kept the greater ones at bay. Yet no vampire sprawled out on the covers or curled underneath them.

A quick peek showed Alucard, deeply asleep in his coffin. Arthur smiled; after having to shoot that imbecile leading that pack of imbeciles, he'd been in a rotten mood and had not been willing to deal with a recalcitrant vampire on top of that! Seeing that same vampire sleeping in its coffin meant that he could return to his interupted classwork. He would be busy conjugating Latin terms for a few hours. By then, Alucard would hopefully be awake, and could be re-ensconced in his basement chamber.

For now, he ignored the sleeping vampire as thoroughly as he ignored the grumbling men in the hallway as they collected their card games and poker chips, coats and boots, and stomped glumly off to the barracks. Father would have to deal with them when he returned. They would be in the barracks, Alucard would be in the basement, and the household would be peaceful and proper and well-run when Abraham came home.

For now, it was with a small flare of pride that he bent over the textbook! 


End file.
